What a Tanker

Looked at Too Fat Lardies, What a Tanker when it came out.  It looked like a lite wargame to be played with friends.  I didn't purchase it because 13 pounds seemed a bit pricey for a lite wargame and I would have to write my own rules for modern actions.  Then battlefront announced they were releasing a modern version of Tanks.   It caught my interest.  ( Particularly as they will now finally release single vehicles and helos!  Yay!)  As I looked more into Tanks it seemed even lighter than WaT and more expensive.  For $25 I get the rules but only stats for 2 tanks.  I know WaT will be a well written and fun game and has stats for most of WW II.  As for writing rules for the modern stuff, I have written stuff for all of the TFL games I have played.  Rich has even been nice enough to put all of them into his specials.  Intellectual property is worth something.  At 13 pounds WaT is looking to be priced right.  So I took the plunge!

  A picture to break up all the writing!   One of my earliest models.  It shows unfortunately.

What a Tanker is exactly what I thought it would be and that is a good thing. A strategy game with a WW II tank overlay.  Think Yatzee meets Patton's Best and you get the concept.  Essentially you roll six dice to get your "hand" for the turn.  Each number allows you to do a different action.  For example, a "1" allows you to move, a "2" allows you to acquire a target and so on.  Clever right? 

An Italian tank trying out the new system.  He will be harder to acquire due to the shrubbery in front.

The strategy comes from using your hand to the best of your ability and planning what you think your probable hand will be in the next turn. Oh and "6s" are wild.  they can be used as any number plus they can repair temporary damage. (Dice that have been removed from your hand)  There is enough tank overlay to keep me interested.  Tanks are rated for armor and "strike" or their gun and armor is weaker on the sides than front.

There aren't rules for halftracks but it is pretty easy to homebrew them.


Do abarencies  crop in during the game?  Sure.  You can have a tank racing for cover that next turn suddenly stops because it didn't roll a "1" or a "6".  This one is pretty hard to rationalize away  ( some you can) so it is better to just laugh and take the game as it comes.   But, like Saga, the game is just plain fun!  It also helps that the turns last about 3 minutes so your tank soon has another chance to roll up a hand and maybe this time your opponent is the one stuck without a "1".

If you want deep strategy, covering fire, smoke and the like, they make Troops, Weapons and Tactics (my favorite) or the popular  Chain of Command  ( which I was a playtester for) or try Force on Force or Combat Patrol.  If you are looking a a 15 minute game that you can switch sides and play again What a Tanker is a lot of fun.  And I found it easy to play solo as nothing is hidden.

First game.  4 tanks just come and have a go!

Luigi needed 2 aquires ( 1 for shrubbery + 1 for rocks; he was unbuttoned) dice and scored a kill!

His victim

Diego not so lucky!

2nd game.  US waits for Afrika Korps.   Germans get points for exiting.

Lucky break for the Yanks!

GMC moving back to spoil aim of Jerry.  His crew had lost 2 dice due to partial penetration. ( called temporary damage in the game.  I think of it as stunned or confused/scared)

German armored car moved off the map.  Pz III took out the GMC.  Panzer now stuck between 2 tanks.  ( Lee unloaded though note grey marker.)  Amazingly German got off the board and almost took out the Lee.

Now if you remember back to the start of this page, I wanted to do modern stuff.  So I bring you
Cold War Tanker! CWT. 

Can 1 Leopard II really take out 3 T-55ams?    ( East Germans must use platoon rules.)
Let's find out.

We look pretty Bad Ass!

O Oh!  Leopard lining up a shot.

He looks pretty BA too.  I bet he rolled a "4" so he can fire.

Yep!  He had a "4".

Let's quickly move behind this wall so I will be harder to acquire and hit.

2:1 is better odds.  I need to keep moving to throw off their aim.  I am digging this moving my turret 60 degrees free with every move!

Critical hit!  What are the odds?  ( 1 in 32 to be exact.  House rule a critical hit is treated like a side shot.)

Fun game and took about 15 minutes.   Still tweaking the armor ratings ( made the leopard and Abrams higher) but think I am 75% there.   Also tested rules for ATGMs which I like.  Haven't tackled helocopters yet.  Am going to go to the other end of the spectrum  and try some recon vrs recon matchups ( Luchs anyone?) to test the armor system down there.  Also kicking around some ideas for infantry.  In WW III they are hard to ignore as they have potent anti armor capabilities. 
Hopefully you will see this is a special or magazine at some point!

Also kicking around does Platoon Forward have a place here?  WaT has a campaign game but is really  just keeping track of kills.  I don't know.   We will see.  For right now Nick has created a simple fun game that I am enjoying and having fun expanding into the modern period.  You can't ask for more than that.


Enjoy

Joe 


















   

Patrol at the Rathaus Chapter V WW III

There has been some spirited discussion about patrol scenarios and  recon missions over on TMP.  Someone asked, " Why does no one play patrol scenarios?"  I love patrol scenarios though I admit Platoon Forward patrols are set up to be "fighting" patrols.  The recon scenario has you scouting for enemy positions and honestly I find it boring.  You find them and beat feet.   I included it because it was an important task and wanted Platoon Forward to be a complete campaign. ( I normally substitute "meeting engagement" for recon when I roll it.)  Screening of engineering activities ( checking out a ford or bridge for example) is done by the screening mission.  I actually like this mission as the platoon has to protect the engineers while they do their thing but sometimes they have to fight it out as well.  I got to thinking, could I come up with a recon patrol scenario that would be fun?  
The following action is taken from chapter V from Jonathan Lachman's book Wrong Place; Wrong Time.  My view of WW III .  Published by Tasche books, Koln Germany, 1987.  All rights reserved by Herr Lachman and used with his kind permission.  His last chapter can be found here:
http://platoonforward.blogspot.com/2018/06/world-war-iii-chapter-iv.html

After the retreat from Krinholden we moved back to Hamburg.  We were exhausted and Ivan must have been too because for 12 hours no one bothered us!  I actually slept for 5 hours.  Our platoon was in reserve but the company was not in contact.  Turns out the senior officers didn't know exactly where Ivan was.  Clearly, it is intolerable for a German General to not know exactly what the enemy is up to.  Lt Weiss called for myself and Sgt Blaum to meet him in a small store he had commandeered as his CP.  I didn't know what to expect but knew it wouldn't be good.   The LT started right in, " We have lost contact with the enemy.  Despite all our high tech airplanes and American satellites [ 1986 remember] we don't know if Ivan is infiltrating, resting or bypassing.  Each of you is to go to a different suburb and snoop around.  If you find anything we have mortars standing by.  If it is just a screen you can press on otherwise just beat feet and get back here."

Suburb of Hamburg.   Sgt Lachman's Marder left.  Rathaus center.  Goal is to snoop board and exit by bank up top.  Rolled for blinds and they enter right and right bottom.

View of the Rathaus.

View of Karstadt.

The Marder enters past the fountain.

An East German (NVA) BTR-60 also enters scouting ahead.  ( Have to work the opfor tables I think.)

The two sides meet when the NVA round the corner.  Shots miss as both sides scramble back to cover.

NVA dismount.

We saw a funky BTR ahead; enemy but German!   I shouted to pull back.  We would unload and see what was up.  My first instinct was to race across the square to the Rathaus to outflank them but I remembered two things.  First, I didn't know what was following the BTR.  Second, my mission was to see what all they had and then beat feet.  I chose to move into the Karstadt and view across the square and the road.  I positioned the marder by the fountain where it could get a milan shot off if a tank rolled around the corner.

Position early mid-game.  Sgt Lachman in Karstadt.  ( good place to shop btw) East German squad in row houses trading shots with West Germans.
Sgt Lachman calls for the mortars!

Rotterman takes out the BTR with his panzerfaust.  The squad's fire causes the NVA to back out of the building. But the East German Sgt had sent his RPG team to find the Marder...

We have a shot comrade!

You call that a shot?  I can't even see it behind the fountain and tree?  Okay, hurry up and fire so we can get out of here!

I can't believe it!!!  In FoF you roll opposed die and the defender blocks attacking die that hit.  Gamey but I love doing it.  The RPG rolls 3d8 shown top.  The defending Marder had a side armor of 2d8 to which I changed to 2d10 for the hull down plus 1 d8 for moving plus 1 d8 for the tree.  I felt Sgt Lachman's track was quite safe.  Then I rolled the 4 dice below in the picture.  You have to be kidding me!!!  I blocked only the NVA "6".  What a shot comrade!  Mercifully I rolled low on the damage table and broke the track; whew!

Artillery falls around the rowhouses.    Unbeknownst to Sgt Lachman a NVA soldier is critically wounded.

After the mortars fired.  there was nothing from the rowhouses.  I sent two men...

across the square while we covered them and they made it.  Just then an RPG hit the Marder from behind the Rathaus.  ?!?!

They charged into the Rathaus and I came...

across the square.

Meanwhile, another German NCO has a quandary.

Sgt Schwartz was having a bad day.  He was to find the Capitalist MLR and instead he was without a track and had one man bleeding to death.  His RPG team was gone and missing.  He decided to take Helms and go find them quickly.  He couldn't leave them behind to face the wrath of Westies.  "If I am not back in 8 minutes make your way back without us."

The two NVA soldiers flash by the Rathaus before the Westies can get a shot!

Sgt Schwartz is relieved to see his team!  Schnell!  We must leave quickly!


" We never did see the RPG team.  We moved up cautiously on the rowhouse but the NVA had left.  Mercifully the RPG had only broke a track whcih we were able to quickly fix and we high tailed it home.  So ended my first brush with the East Germans."

Great game.  I declared it a win for Sgt Lachman as he had accomplished his mission; sustaining only 1 lightly wounded and destroying a BTR-60.  Post game the squad has become even more enamored with his leadership and will now follow him anywhere.  Their morale stays at 10 and his leadership increases to Gr II.  ( above average.)
I enjoyed the recon aspect.  It was still a meeting engagement but the goal was to see all one could and then leave.  A subtle difference when playing.  I do need to work on the tables a little for WW III I think.

Enjoy!

Joe

PS     Almost finished but the East Germans are getting some help!!!

Highway to Berlin 1986

Finished up my PBR boats for my brown water navy.  Considering what to do for my 2 french ships.  In the meantime I started building and painting up 3 East German T-55s.  I also have 2 squads of infantry complete with BTR-60s and a BDRM.  I tried to replicate the cool 3 color camo scheme that battlefront has on the team yankee website but didn't do a great job.  That said the results had grown on me so I thought I would get them on the table.  I decided I wanted a very small battle due to time constraints so went with a meeting engagement.  Rolled up the board but picked the forces otherwise.

FIRST DAY OF THE WAR

While Nato planners had written off Berlin they did attempt at least a token effort to keep the highway to the city open.  This involved a spoiling attack into East German territory that ran right into elements of the NVA.   As the mobile battle developed it became clear that a small hill near the autobahn and the town near it would be important to have...

SSgt Throckmorton was tasked to take two squads into town  and secure the hill to be used as a TOW sight and secure the village against possible NVA attack.
US forces  8/8   initative d10
2 US mech squads w Bradleys plus 1 HUMVEE/TOW
1 Apache on call

NVA entered 1 turn earlier.    I actually played points.  1 point for the hill, 1 point for the apartment building in the center and 1 point for the factory at the right.  

NVA enter the town going for the hill.  Don't have my East German tanks painted up yet so had to sub in Russian ones. 

2nd NVA squad unloads at the factory.  1 point comrades! 

What the ...!?!?!??!?!?!?!  
Both sides too startled to score any hits.   BDRM retreats.  2nd Bradley moves towards appartment complex and humvee moves towards hill.

The humvee never makes it to the hill.  So the German tanks move forward just as the Apache show up...

Score one for army aviation!!!!

Surprisingly the East Germans do a better job of reacting to the fluid situation.  D6 initative

1st squad unloads and enters the apartment complex.  2 points for the Democratic Republic!

2nd squad finally stops smoking and gets out of the Bradley. 

2nd squad moves up through the factory complex.  ( Who are these guys!)

Mid battle.   Things are not good for the US.  No one controls the hill.  NVA have appartments and factory.  2nd NVA squad moving up towards parking lot. 

Then I drew a very cool, very gamey random event.  Rounds cause a building to catch fire, US player's choice.  Do I put the apartment on fire?  I can't control it then but neither can the Germans. I decide to place it on fire and try to go around it toward the factory. 

A ruptured gas line in the building catches fire!  NVA troops retreat out the back. 

They take up positions across the street. 

SSgt Throckmorton moves his men past the burning building.   They run into a gun toting BTR 60.  1 KIA and 1 serious wound.

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse...

In a sign of socialist solidarity a Russian Hind shows up.  My house rules mean they immediately look for armor as it is easy to identify.  ( easier than troops.)

A Bradley is destroyed and 2nd squad pinned by fire from the East Germans.   With only 1 immobilized Bradley left, 4 casualties and no objectives gained SSgt Throckmorten signals retreat. 


Fun battle that played fast.  The US was soundly defeated.  I set it up so the US were better led ( house rules) so they should have reacted more often and faster though they had fewer assets.  This did not play out.   They consistently "missed" their move rolls and lost initiative and reaction die rolls.  Also the Apache stayed on the board for only 1 turn.   ( I TQ after each turn.)  It would be interesting to play this out again and see if the outcome would be different.  I still think the forces evenly matched despite the outcome.    If you want to try it the NVA had
8/8  initative d6
2 mech squads with BTR 60s  All poor ( Gr0) leaders.
1 BDRM Avg leader
2 T-55As    1 Avg/ 1 Poor

Enjoy

Joe

Rescue mission-- somalia

Actually wanted to take a break from the Brown Water Navy and Vietnam last weekend.  Wanted something short and different.  Found a rescue scenario in "Day of the Rangers" scenario book.  It is the first scenario book of theirs I bought ( actually paid full price, such a newbie) and is only "okay" because the scenarios are not particularly varied.  That said, they have a hypothetical rescue mission of a downed helo pilot.   So no  Platoon Forward today( I normally can't help it- it is what I actually play!)  I played this one straight out of the book! 

Mogadishu.  target building in the center.  Nice small board

The US gets 2 sticks of rangers and 8 deltas.   They have to rescue the pilot and evac him out by turn 10.   They lose points for casualties of US personal and civilians.  

Target building up close.  Durant is inside with 6 bad guys.

Rangers fast rope down from a Blackhawk.  No Jack, that is a Blackhawk! 

US gets air support every turn which is good because the Somalis get fighters every turn.  At the beginning of turn two a gunship ( yes Jack that is a gunship) strafes fighters drawn towards the commotion. 

The gunship does a fine job clearing the street!

Delta quickly prepares to enter the target building.  FOF has very good rules for this sort of thing.

The Somali guards keep their wits and lay down fire but it does them no good.  Delta is too fast and soon Durant is back in US hands! 

Situation at the end of turn two.  I often place figures on top of buildings rather than in them because I am lazy.  Rangers bottom left and right with delta in target house.  Helos overhead. 

Unfortunatly my brilliant pictures of the next two turns didn't come out.  Sorry.

Situation at the end of turn 4.  US in the same positions but more Somalis massing along bottom of table.  Also Civilians showing up and they are NOT pro-US.

They didn't teach us what to do in ranger school about this.

An NCO attempts to disperse part of the crowd.  He fails.

The Somalis finally feel strong enough to have a go at the target house.  (The crowd in the picture two above is still blocking the LMG.)  They fail.

With that a blackhawk ( yes Jack, still a blackhawk) comes in to load Durant.

Mission accomplished!    US sustained only 2 lt wounds.  Fun, short game and I got to use my Delta figures.  

Enjoy

Joe